Can you believe next week we’ll be looking at the end of January!
As we look ahead to what the rest of the year may hold, we wanted to bring you some forecasts for what recruiters and candidates alike can expect in 2023!
Hybrid work is no longer a benefit – it’s non-negotiable
We know the pandemic brought us a greater flexibility of hybrid work and with it, changed the world. We are still continuing to play hide-and-seek with COVID, as it fluctuates in waves. But what isn’t fluctuating is workers’ expectations of hybrid work.
Australia has become one of the leading countries with hybrid employees, with 34% of workers leveraging a hybrid workplace, compared to an average of 29% with our western counterparts (US, UK and Canada).
What is leading this? Firstly, a reduced ‘cost of working’ which includes a reduction in travel costs and time spent commuting. Secondly, a shift in attitudes and values. Families have been afforded a luxury of more time with each other, flexibility of childcare, picking the kids up from school and just general ease of housework. This has added to a significant increase in work-life balance and satisfaction which has resulted in the used to be ‘flexible’ part of salary packages and benefits, become a requirement and expectation.
If you aren’t offering this to your employees or still find yourself practicing that ‘mistrust’ that employers used to have about employees’ productivity from home – you will find yourself struggling to attract and retain employees.
AI on the rise for business improvement
Last year we were introduced to the Metaverse and we even spoke about the possibility of VR workplaces being introduced to the way we work. Besides the metaverse, we’ve already seen AI replacing many mundane administrative tasks to improve the efficiency of business processes. In recruitment, we’ve seen this through the automation of applications. This means, many agencies have AI scanning through resumes for a candidate’s suitability even before a consultant or agency gets to read them. This means candidates have had to tailor their resumes to include more keywords and simpler formatting to get past the AI criteria. No matter the industry – AI has touched business optimisation: Supply chain and robotics; marketing and virtual engagement; agriculture and tractors! Have you thought about how AI might impact your own business operations in the coming year?
Quiet hiring
Continuing on from last year, this year will continue to cast ‘quiet hiring’. In case you missed this trend, quiet hiring the acquisition of skills without actually hiring new people. We see this done primarily through career progression and promotions. Since we are sitting in a drought of talent in this candidate-short environment, companies have begun to leverage on their internal skills.
Quite hiring has proven its benefits outside of primarily filling skill gaps. Giving opportunity to your staff who show achievement, commitment and dedication, drastically increases your retention, engagement and productivity, as well as positioning you as employer of choice, who looks after and invests in their own.
So, what do these trends tell us? We can expect to continue a great potential for healthy work life balances to increasing our productivity, prepare ourselves for the integration of new technology and look forward to a bigger investment of internal capabilities.
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